Agriculture: Research

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research projects on public attitudes to the use of pesticides her Department has funded since 1997; what the  (a) research topic,  (b) start date,  (c) cost and  (d) project code was of each such project; who the main contractor was in each case; and which such projects have been completed to date.

Richard Benyon: The 1996-97 survey of public attitudes to the environment for England and Wales included two questions on pesticides. The work was carried out by MORI, fieldwork was carried out between November 1996 and January 1997 and the report was published in September 1998. The Survey of public attitudes to quality of life and to the environment 2001 included three questions on pesticides. The work was carried out by the Office for National Statistics, fieldwork was carried out between January and April 2001 and the report was published in October 2002.
	The results of these surveys are available on the DEFRA website at:
	www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/environment/pubatt/index.htm
	No cost can be meaningfully ascribed to the pesticides questions within these surveys as these questions made up only a small part of the surveys. No questions on pesticides were included in the 2007 or 2009 attitude surveys.
	Project PS2302 on the "acceptability of pesticide effects on non-target species" had scheduled start and completion dates of 1 November 2002 and 31 October 2004 respectively. The cost was £143,750 and the main contractor was Crane Consultants. The report can be found at:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu& Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=11761&FromSearch =Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=PS2302&SortString=ProjectCode&Sort Order=Asc&Paging=10#Description

Departmental Legal Costs

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much  (a) his Department and its predecessors and  (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on legal advice in each year since 1997.

Bob Neill: The following table shows total spend on legal advice for the last financial year for  (a) the Department and  (b) its agencies and non-departmental bodies. Details of expenditure in earlier years could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  2009-10  Total (£) 
			 Communities and Local Government 9,564,505 
			 Government Office Network 54,714 
			 Planning Inspectorate 0 
			 Fire Service College 41,659 
			 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 0 
			 Housing and Communities Agency 11,913,217 
			 Ordnance Survey 765,889 
			 FireBuy 693,685 
			 Audit Commission 0 
			 Lease 3,000 
			 Valuation Tribunal Service 55,567 
			 Tenant Service Authority 0 
			 Community Development Fund 19,646 
			 Housing Ombudsman 24,702 
			 Standards Board 0 
			 London Thames Gateway Development Corporation 1,197,041 
			 Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation 996,364 
			 West Northamptonshire Development Corporation 360,657 
			 Total 25,690,648

Departmental Data Protection

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department retains information on its former employees who worked on tax policy who have  (a) resigned and  (b) retired and subsequently found employment in (i) tax advisory companies and (ii) tax law practices.

Justine Greening: HM Treasury would only retain this information on ex-employees working on tax policy if within two years of leaving they were being considered for any employment for which they would be required to seek permission under the HM Treasury Business Appointment Rules.
	The Advisory Committee on Business Appointment Rules publishes this information on an annual basis and is available online at:
	http://acoba.independent.gov.uk/publications.aspx